Do Votes Really Matter to the Democrats?

Hillary Clinton was quoted yesterday saying that it’s wrong when people go through the motions of an election only to have their vote discarded and disregarded. Of course, she was speaking of voters in Michigan and Florida whose primary votes are not being included in the tally of votes needed to secure the Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States. (Funny thing is, Hillary didn’t care much about Florida and Michigan back in the fall when she didn’t think she’d need them to win).

All this talk of counting every vote has got me thinking about the state of the Democratic party nomination as it stands today. Both Hillary and Barack Obama are very close to one another in terms of popular vote. Obama leads Clinton by over a hundred pledged delegates. Depending on who you listen to, Obama either needs to reach 2025 to secure the nomination, or 2209 by Clinton’s mathematics. Her path to the nomination is virtually impossible by anyone’s math. Still, Hillary is out there right now, screaming and pounding the table about how important each and every vote is.

Yet, the ironic thing is all of the votes and all of the pledged delegates really don’t matter.

For all their talk about how important “one man one vote” is to our Democracy, the Democrats are going to nominate a presidential candidate, not by the will of the voters, but by the will of the superdelegates. These individuals don’t have to vote according to the popular vote. They don’t have to vote according to pledged delegates. They don’t have to vote based on a majority of their constituents. They don’t have to vote the same way their home state voted. Nope, they can vote their conscience. Those are the rules of the Democratic Party.

So, you wonder why Hillary is still campaigning today to win the nomination when she’s behind in popular vote and pledged delegates? You wonder why she’s screaming for every vote to be counted? It’s not because it’s the actual vote that will bring her a win. The votes don’t matter. It’s the conscience of the superdelegates that matters.